Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-04-08

..o ansty miller ut his door.
'rTont,ntcd eyes the ripened grain,
NV ,ivor rroaning Mt his side.
Wnves day by day his wheels OF gain.
o,.tore nenr. in ivy dressed,
GGiyos welcome rs the day declines;
,Ann,nfh its Q lves young martins nest,
Hid safe where clustering green entwines,
,on,ld. n beacon in the dusk,
'IJ,"h over nll-G golden spire
,,,a,srts in conflict with tho sun,
Ard sparkles like u ball of fire.
,.o,e rests On nil whore friend ind foe
I"J side bv side in deadly strife;
uarn ccho'd buck the lannon's roar,
a short gone yesterday of life.
ynt York Graphic.
o,r Escape from the Alabama.
.unpose that SO long as people continue
ak and write about the war, there will
bc an end of the strange things that will
toll and written about it. By strange
;aos I mean such occurrences as never
ia be expected to happen. ;,
Sow. for example, take the incidents that
M about to relate.
In december, 1862, the Government had
MN to understand that it had o real war
haud-no thirty or sixty-day affair.
EG.ary matters we're not moving very en-
rraninelv for the Union side in those
rs The Mississippi River was barred:
cyeat campaigns that were to release It
mot vet been commenced. At the East,
II MARYLAND and the capital but lately
IT, Tr.rsd from the Confederate army. our
res had just been flung back across the
p%pahannock in bloody and disastrous de-
N. This, any one would say, was the
re when every Union soldier capable of
aying arm ought to be found ut the
mi, And yet, strange to say, the present
itsr, with about three hundred comrades,
s aaoat on blue water, in a sailing yes
almost five handred miles east Of the
rs. of the United States, having q re-
brsably pleasant time out among the Ba-
Ina Islands.
And we were neither deserters nor shirks.
4 we're acting strictly under orders; and,
the way. We got back to solid ground
pp enough to get our full share Of fight
The explanation is simple enough. We
Ire four companies, with part of the field
d staff of the regiment, that had en-
liked at Fortress Monroe under sealed
ders for distant SERVICE" in the early
us Of December. There were fourteen
Fam vessels started out at that time, of
bich we had the smallest, weakest, and
eaues. She was hardly fit to navigate o
nal. We were all caught in o raging
brm of Hatteras. in the midst of which
r engine broke down, and our poor craft
he near going to the bottom. We we're
ally picked up, after untold misery and
i'll, by one of the larger steamers, and
nd into pprt IO1n1 I1orn D,~
ten vessel was condemned, and
some arrangements could be made to
9 rs on to Ship Island, in the Gulf, to
eh point the opening of our sealed or
) directed MS. A most agreeable week
that! We enjoyed the inequalities of
ennsylvania regiment; WI were at lib
to go almost anywhere about that pic
Fsque bay and it's islands; and more
b anything else l think we were gratified
our visits to the United States steam
eate Wabash, lying at anchor, which a
before had taken part in the fight with
shore batteries which won Port Royal
us. Such a picture of neatness as the
lis OF this noble vesselpresented 1 never
and | was somewhat astonished upon
PC told that no less than eight hundred
|crs, marines and artificers were at that
Faent aboard. A tame bear on one of
forward decks seemed to he o great pet
the sailors; and one grizzled OLD salt
Fhom made some inquiries volunteered
pin me a short yarn, something in this
hion:
You see that there bear. sir? Well, sir,
long ago that there animal went aft,
N the marine wasn't looking; and the
ned creature climbed up on the sky
y and his weight broke in the glass and
all at once; and he bumped right down
the Captains cabin, right on the table,
re the Captain had the Admiral to
nef. Yes, sir, he did,"
omethlng in the manner of this old
Jacket led me to suspect that he was
" 70 impose upon my credulity; so l
to INN II this was one of that kind of
les l had heard of, which were usually
q 10 the marines"
cheek.
Q were transferred to the bark Wolff
70 complete II voyage; and a remark
voyage 1t was. While steamers for
uu1i orts can go straight down the
'ua coast, passing in sight of it a large
VI .he way, the powerful current of
UPSTREAM, sweepingn orthward around
iofloa cape, prevents sailing vessels
Pufsulng that course. They are COM
u 70 20 a zig-zag journey to the east,
n.east, south. and south west, before
van IAN onnd the cape; going almost
nahared miles easterly, as has
stated, and voyaging for days
the shoaly channels Of the Bahamas.
: was our course. We left Port Royal
aiaif brseze in the early morning of
sn.pes II. We reached the Southwest
VI, me Mississippi on the 31st. having
."o weeks on the way. On this vo,-
IT, raversed the channels of the Bahia
n rianos; sailed along the beautiful coast
"a' With its dark mountains in the
2.o,io; passed the Moro light at Ha-
~ me night time and saw it flashing
.s1.y miles Off; passed the Floridl
: S"ised across the Gulf to barren and
nhlp Island, where, without drop
IncH9r, We learned that we were or
W New Orleans; and there we went.
Ire Tor whole days and nights Of this
NJ opanlsh and in British waters, and
cn, s = a rev incidents of the voyage
""sy That which gives title to this
uon Oh will bear dwelling upon.
Ore u course, a perfect picnic for the
b. here was no duty to be done,
neeplng arms and accoutrements
ana answering to roll-call? The
ition "as delightful; and in this happy
Ma, OF laziness the soldiers could
ca1s cards, smoke, write letters, plan
ens; l and indulge in a variety of
,nn .e nonsense. All the "larks" that
kch n. ieafn on shipboard and play off
W. otner We're resortad to. There was